Ban for woman for failing to make payments to HM Revenue and Customs and keeping company records

Nisha Parmar, who was a director of Angello Design Services Limited and Street Look Clothing Limited, has been disqualified from acting as a director for six years for failing to make payments to HM Revenue and Customs and failing to keep records for both failed companies.

Angello Design Services Limited (Angello) began trading in August 2002, hiring out garment processing machinery. Street Look Clothing Limited (Street Look) began trading in April 2013 as dressmakers. Mrs Parmar was the only director of Street Look from incorporation and became the sole director of Angello on 9 November 2012.

Ms Parmar blamed the economic downturn and a change in the clothing industry for the failure of the companies. The industry saw an increase in customers outsourcing abroad, to companies in Romania and Vietnam who were offering prices Angello and Street Look were unable to compete with. These customers would send goods direct from the factories abroad into high street stores fully packaged and ready to be sold, removing the need for any processing services.

On 12 February 2014, Angello was placed into Liquidation. Street Look followed on 27 June 2014.

The Insolvency service investigation found that:

Angello made no payments to HMRC in respect of its PAYE/NIC liabilities after 3 September 2013

in the absence of complete returns HMRC estimated that on liquidation Angello’s liability was £14,046. Mrs Parmar estimated that Angello’s PAYE/NIC liability on liquidation was £18,684

in the absence of complete returns HMRC estimated that on liquidation Angello’s liability was £124,029

during the period that Mrs Parmar was a director Angello received £1,089,336 into its bank account and expended £1,089,463

in the same period payments of £32,562 were made to HMRC whilst net payments totalling £10,697 were made to Mrs Parmar. The remaining £1,046,204 was paid to parties other than HMRC

Street Look made no payments to HMRC in respect of its PAYE/NIC liabilities

in the absence of complete returns HMRC have estimated that on liquidation Street Look’s liability for PAYE/NIC was £12,032.15. Mrs Parmar estimated that Street Look’s PAYE/NIC liability on liquidation was £42,416

during the period that PAYE/NIC was not paid, Street Look received £200,580 into its bank account and expended the same amount

in the same period payments of £6,082 were made in respect of its VAT account and no payments were made in respect of its PAYE/NIC account. Cash withdrawals totalling £8,760 were made during the same period. The remaining £185,738 was paid to parties other than HMRC

Mrs Parmar also failed to maintain records to account for all of the income and expenditure of the businesses and to establish what the true HMRC liabilities were

At the date of liquidation, Angello had assets of £15,417 and liabilities of £220,475. Street Look had assets of £7,459 and liabilities of £310,781.

Commenting on the disqualification, Cheryl Lambert, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

Directors who do not comply with their obligations to HM Revenue and Customs and do not maintain adequate records can expect to be investigated by the Insolvency Service and enforcement action taken to remove them from the market place.

Mrs Parmar failed to ensure that the companies complied with their statutory obligations, resulting in HM Revenue and Customs being owed a substantial amount of money.

Taking action against Mrs Parmar is a warning to directors that there are consequences for failing to take their duties seriously.

Notes to editors

Angello Design Services Limited (CRO 04479100) was incorporated on 5 July 2002. Its registered office was First Floor, 10 Hampden Square, Southgate, London, N14 5JR. It traded from Sabre House, Unit 1, 1 Shaftesbury Road, London, N18 1SS. Mrs Parmar was the only director at the time of Liquidation.

Street Look Clothing Limited (CRO08457954) was incorporated on 22 March 2013. Its registered office was First Floor, 10 Hampden Square, Southgate, London, N14 5JR. It traded from Sabre House, Unit 1, 1 Shaftesbury Road, London, N18 1SS. Mrs Parmar was the only director at the time of Liquidation.

Angello Design Services Limited was placed into Liquidation on 27 June 2014.

Street Look Clothing Limited was placed into Liquidation on 12 February 2014.

Nisha Parmar is of London and her date of birth is 22 October 1969.

The Secretary of State accepted an undertaking from Nisha Parmar on 3 November 2015. The disqualification commences on 24 November 2015.

A disqualification order or undertaking has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:

act as a director of a company

take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership

be a receiver of a company’s property

In addition that person cannot act as an insolvency practitioner and there are many other restrictions are placed on disqualified directors by other regulations.

Further information on director disqualifications and restrictions is available.

The Insolvency Service administers the insolvency regime, investigating all compulsory liquidations and individual insolvencies (bankruptcies) through the Official Receiver to establish why they became insolvent. It may also use powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK. In addition, the agency authorises and regulates the insolvency profession, deals with disqualification of directors in corporate failures, assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees, provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

All public enquiries concerning the affairs of the company should be made to: Cheryl Lambert, Head of Outsourced Investigations, Investigations and Enforcement Services, The Insolvency Service, 3rd Floor, Abbey Orchard Street, London SW1P 2HT. Tel: 0207 596 6117. Email: Cheryl.Lambert@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk.